


As the Sun Kissed the Horizon

by pennysparkle



Category: Persona 4
Genre: First Kiss, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-13
Updated: 2015-10-13
Packaged: 2018-04-26 07:04:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,845
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4994827
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pennysparkle/pseuds/pennysparkle
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It started off innocuously enough, because by this point, Souji had gotten settled with Yosuke's prodding, sometimes too-personal questions. The boundaries between them had been smashed early on in their friendship, nothing too out-of-the-blue or weird for Souji to handle (even when it came to talking about what kind of porn Yosuke liked)—and for all intents and purposes, Yosuke's new brand of curiosity wasn't actually as raunchy as Souji had come to expect from him.</p>
<p>"Hey, you've had your first kiss, right?"</p>
            </blockquote>





	As the Sun Kissed the Horizon

**Author's Note:**

> [Jack](http://milesupshur.tumblr.com) and I are doing a week of P4 prompts! Today's was "kiss."

It started off innocuously enough, because by this point, Souji had gotten settled with Yosuke's prodding, sometimes too-personal questions. The boundaries between them had been smashed early on in their friendship, nothing too out-of-the-blue or weird for Souji to handle (even when it came to talking about what kind of porn Yosuke liked)—and for all intents and purposes, Yosuke's new brand of curiosity wasn't actually as raunchy as Souji had come to expect from him.

"Hey, you've had your first kiss, right?" he had inquired one afternoon in the sunlit center of his own bedroom, shuffling through a heap of magazines that all looked the same to Souji.  _Rock World, Guitar Digest, Sizzle Beat_ (which, as far as Souji could tell, did not actually pertain to music itself, but artful black-and-white photos of entirely nude people holding onto various musical instruments in order to censor the bits that needed censoring).

At any rate, he phrased the question in that one particular tone he used: nonchalant, but forced,  _faked_. A tone that said he was not actually nonchalant at all, under any circumstances. Souji never called him on it.

"No," he said. It wasn't a confession that made him feel ashamed, really. Did it matter? He was pretty sure Yosuke hadn't had his first kiss yet, either.

But Yosuke dropped the magazine he had been holding, more shocked than Souji thought was actually necessary. Then he turned to Souji with a deeply furrowed brow, frowning. "Wh— _really_? You haven't?"

"No." Souji stared him down, not exactly daring him to say something, but letting him know with that one look that if he  _did_ have something to say, it wasn't going to phase him all that much, and it would be better to save his breath in the end.

"Well... I mean, why not? You've gotta have girls that are interested in you, right? You got a love letter in your locker last week!"

Souji shrugged. People being interested in him wasn't going to sway him one way or another; he'd had lots of love letters throughout his years of performing musical chairs via relocation around the country, and he'd politely declined each and every one. It was just easier if he didn't form attachments, and the momentary loneliness he felt was a small price to pay.

"C'mon, dude... you gotta give me  _something_ ," Yosuke sighed.

For a long moment, Souji considered him. He'd turned his back again, sorting through his magazines, but a closer look showed that he wasn't picking up new ones—just the same ones, over and over again. And his back was all stiff, too, as stiff as the faked nonchalance he was affecting.

"Why?" Souji asked neutrally.

"Well... I dunno. It just seems like something that's gotta happen for us pretty soon, right?"

Did it...? He guessed a lot of guys had their minds on that sort of thing—but not him. At the moment he was busy enough with getting good grades and trying to save the world, which felt an increment more important than something like kissing.

Yosuke continued, plowing through Souji's silence. "So I just wanted to prepare myself. But I guess we're in the same boat."

Slowly, Souji nodded. The topic, while it didn't interest him, seemed pretty important to Yosuke, and he couldn't fault him for that at all. The burden they carried was a weighty one, and worse still, one that no one could sympathize with outside of the Investigation Team. He deserved to think about something nice for a change, and besides, a lot of things that didn't really make sense to Souji were important to Yosuke, so he tried to be as understanding as possible.

"Don't worry, Yosuke. Some girl out there is going through life right now, just waiting to be swept off her feet by you."

"You think so? ... Thanks, partner," said Yosuke, glancing over his shoulder to smile at him in that goofy-happy way that meant he was actually really pleased despite Souji's sometimes off-color compliments.

That was the last they spoke of kissing for the evening, and it left Souji's mind immediately, replaced instead with what he'd have to pick up from Junes if he wanted to make croquettes and salad for dinner. In fact, he didn't think about kissing at all for another week or so, until Yosuke flipped his chair around to face Souji's desk at lunchtime on Monday with barely a greeting. He just cleared out a space for his bento and then leaned in, whispering secretively to Souji despite the foot of air between their faces.

"So, any luck yet?"

Souji racked his brain. What had they spoken about so far today...? Just the usual things—discussing the investigation on the way to school, and then Souji had helped him with a question about Chinese philosophers in second period. But neither of those things really made much sense.

"With what?" he asked, choosing to go directly for it instead of attempting to suss it out in his own mind.

"With  _kissing_. Y'know? We were talking about it last week!"

Back to this.  _Why does it matter so much_? The question was on the tip of his tongue to ask, not a cruel one; he just really didn't understand, and was curious if Yosuke could give him some clarity.

But what he asked instead was, "Do you have a crush on someone, Yosuke?"

"Well... no! I mean, yes? Uh... it's complicated," he said, dodging around so quickly Souji was surprised he didn't just blurt out the real answer in a moment of self-inflicted confusion. "I just wanna be ready when the time comes! And I figured you'd definitely get to have your first kiss before me, so you could give me some pointers."

"I don't think that's going to happen, Yosuke." For one thing, he wasn't nearly as focused on the task as Yosuke was. For another, who was he going to kiss? Not a stranger, that was for sure.

"Just... you'll tell me if it happens, right?" Yosuke pleaded.

"Of course," said Souji, even though he felt resolute in his own surety.

"Okay... because I wanna do it right when I do it. Y'know, really rock somebody's world!"

Souji nodded. Maybe he didn't understand the sentiment, but he could be  _supportive_ , if nothing else. He might not have been Yosuke's best friend that had kissed someone, but he was his best friend all the same, and he'd fill that role with every ounce of effort he had inside of him.

"You'll do great, Yosuke. Don't worry about it so much, okay?"

"That's easy for you to say, partner... At least you're good-looking. It's not like I've got a lot going for me if I mess up kissing." He laughed, as if it was amusing.

But Souji frowned and leaned in further. "Hey, don't say that about yourself. You're great. Someone's going to be really lucky to have you."

"Yeah... leave it to you to say something like that, partner. You're just too cool and nice, y'know? That's the kind of thing that makes people fall for you!"

"Don't underestimate yourself. You've got a lot going for you," said Souji, brushing over the compliment.

After that, Yosuke seemed too embarrassed by Souji's flattery to continue on such a topic. He'd taken out his textbook and begged Souji to help him with his English homework instead, and it had been washed away under a barrage of vocabulary and grammar, overlaid by Yosuke's pained whines as he clutched at his head and did his best to understand.

By the third time it was brought up, weeks and weeks later, Souji had just about resigned himself to the occasional awkward question about his recent kissing history, but Yosuke hadn't turned it into some kind of discussion for a while now, so Souji was admittedly on his guard. The truth was that there were  _zero_ changes to his first-kiss status, but Yosuke seemed somehow surprised each and every time he received a reply in the negative.

"It's like you're not even trying!" he lamented one evening, the two of them sat down by the Samegawa, air still but pleasant around them. It was always these sorts of scenes that would stick out in Souji's mind—the water forever curling haphazard ribbons through the rocks, only to lap calmly up against the bank, the orange sky streaked through with pink clouds fluffed up like cotton candy, the sun sitting low enough to be cradled by the earth. Once it hit the horizon, it'd sink fast, and then they'd be in the darkness.

"I'm  _not_ ," Souji said. Surely this didn't come as a surprise to Yosuke.

"Wh-what?! Then who am I supposed to come to for advice?"

"... I'm not sure." Probably not anyone else in the Investigation Team; Yukiko and Chie were attached at the hip, but there was a nervous distance between them, a slow circling around each other that hadn't yet ended. He had faith in them; in time, they'd sort it out one way or another. As for Kanji, he was still doing his best to figure himself out in between glances at Naoto, and Naoto's mind was often solely focused on his work. Rise had eyes for Souji, but often in a way where she knew he wouldn't return her feelings, and didn't actually  _mind_ that. It was just their thing: she flirted with him, and he smiled and accepted it. And  _Teddie_...? Actually, the truth was that he might have been the one most likely to have been kissed already, and the thought was so amusing that Souji said so aloud.

"What about it? You could ask him for tips." His mouth remained relatively flat for all the amusement he was currently feeling, but that just made Yosuke gasp and sputter, giving him a look like he'd been betrayed.

"Good point," Souji replied to the words left unspoken. He dragged a hand idly through the scratchy grass and wished it was one of the cats that sometimes hung around here instead. It would be much softer to pet.

Yosuke cleared his throat and settled again. After a couple minutes, he began to speak, clearly doing his utter best to not just come out with it as he fidgeted and floundered. "Well... I mean. I guess, y'know..." And then he trailed off into silence.

Thirty seconds passed before Souji prompted him. "What is it, Yosuke?"

"Like... I guess we could—y'know?"

"You guess we could  _what_?" he asked. It was clear something was being hinted at here, only it was flying right over his head.

Despite Yosuke's face being turned away, Souji could see his bright pink ears, visible even through the mess of his hair. "Kiss!" he said, spitting it out harshly as if wanting it far away from himself.

Kiss? He wanted to kiss  _Souji_? After all the unknowingly cruel comments he'd made to Kanji about this sort of thing, Souji couldn't help it if he was surprised, and his mouth dropped open, a silence filtering between them yet again.

Yosuke was struggling not to turn and look at him, his head glancing back just a little before he forced it forward again. "A-are you gonna say something, partner? You think I'm weird now, don't you! Please don't tell anybody at school..."

"I... well, I mean... if you're okay with it being me, then I don't have a problem with it," said Souji, even though he was still confused, floundering just as badly as Yosuke had earlier. This was certainly the last turn he'd expected this situation to take.

Yosuke turned around, eyes wide but disbelieving as they met Souji's, his lips parting enough to show the darkness between. The birds and cicadas in the trees were suddenly silent, as if holding their breath just like Yosuke seemed to be.

As the seconds passed, Souji realized he'd have to get the ball rolling on his own. He leaned forward, resting a hand on Yosuke's shoulder, letting it linger there momentarily so that he could push away if all of this was only a joke.

But he didn't. His eyes flicked down, looked at Souji's lips like he couldn't  _not_ do it, an automatic gesture that was so expected, so ordinary—yet it was what finally made all of this clear to Souji. Because there wasn't a single thing nervous about that look; all Souji could see was that Yosuke wanted this.

In that moment it became inescapably clear that Yosuke hadn't asked all those questions because he wanted to practice for girls—he'd asked because he wanted to kiss Souji. And suddenly, it all came together. It was a little bit scary, actually... There was a big difference between kissing someone you'd  _always_ looked at romantically, and kissing someone who was your best friend. This was scarier. This could be ruined.

"You're sure this is okay, Yosuke? It's your first kiss..."

"It's... I mean, I'd rather have it with you..." he admitted shiftily. "Besides, it's your first, too!"

"Yeah. You've been dwelling on that a lot lately."

"Because... we should know those things about each other, shouldn't we? We're best friends."

"Of course we are. It's just, I'm thinking you weren't actually asking me all that stuff because you wanted to know how to kiss girls. Right?"

Yosuke's face scrunched up, and he took his time coming out with an answer. "Well, I  _did_ want to know some of that stuff. I was just curious if you'd had your first kiss... And then I started thinking about it more and more. It's not right. Somebody as perfect as you definitely deserves a kiss—I mean... assuming you think I'm good enough to give you one!"

"You could have just said," Souji murmured. They had somehow inched closer to each other, and now they were mere inches apart, enough that he felt he should keep his voice soft.

"That's embarrassing, y'know? Besides, it's not because... it's not like I want to do it because you're a guy. I just trust you."

"You can do it," said Souji. Maybe it'd be easier for Yosuke if he could take the lead instead.

It was clear he was doing his best not to hesitate, brows pinched in concentration as he leaned forward, eyes square on Souji's lips while he pursed his own together. Souji might have laughed if he knew it wouldn't scare Yosuke off.

He took his time getting around to it, but finally his lips touched Souji's, dry and quivering as he tried to keep his face straight. Nevertheless, that act made him so tense that it felt a lot like having a piece of cardboard pressed to his mouth, so Souji reached out, squeezing Yosuke's arm gently. Though it made him jump at first, he relaxed slowly, lips softening and gentling until they were carefully aligned with Souji's.

It wasn't unpleasant. It was just warm, and he could feel Yosuke exhaling shakily, his eyes squeezed shut past the slight cross-eyed blur of being this close to each other. Even now he seemed unable to completely rid himself of his nerves.

The moment stretched as their lips remained touching, bodies entirely still. Then a bird squawked overhead, and a child laughed somewhere nearby, and Yosuke pulled back abruptly, even brighter pink than he'd been before.

"So, uh... was that okay?" he asked nervously.

"It was fine," Souji said. It really hadn't been too bad, just... he'd expected more, maybe? It couldn't be  _exactly_ like it looked in dramas, could it? That one simple press and nothing else. There was supposed to be a spark to it, wasn't there?

Yosuke fidgeted, ripping up a handful of grass and trying to blow it all away. A sudden gust blew it back in his face, making him sputter.

And Souji was silent. It should have been a moment for reflecting upon, but what really  _was_ there to reflect upon? Maybe Yosuke had gotten his answer. Maybe this would be forgotten.

"Do you think... can we try it again?" Yosuke asked after several minutes.

A smile spread over Souji's face, equal parts relieved and amused. He was quick to nod, but instead of leaning in for another kiss, he pushed himself up off of the ground and grabbed his bag, then looked down at Yosuke. "Sure. But maybe we should get out of here before some preschoolers see."

Yosuke laughed, following suit with his usual clumsy motions, and together, they walked to the stop of the stairs, Yosuke wheeling his bike halfway down the road before they climbed on. As always, it was him in the seat and Souji hanging on behind him, chest pressed halfway to his back. The sun was already low on the horizon, and darkness overtook them before they managed to make it back to Yosuke's house, but there was a safety in that, and in the way it snuck past the windows to lay upon the ground with them, legs and mouths tangled together in the night.

**Author's Note:**

> [tumblr!](http://bunansa.tumblr.com)


End file.
